Aventura After-School Program Rated #1 in Dade County!

By Morris Levy….It’s no surprise to the community that Dade county’s #1 rated after-school program happens to be run by Chabad! An educational consulting company hired by Miami-Dade to rate all county after-school programs, has rated Chabad Chayil’s program one of the best. After spending two weeks observing and analyzing every aspect of Chabad’s program, Cynthia Serure, president of A Gift for the Soul, Inc. concluded that program was exemplary. “This program scored at the top on virtually all analytical criteria including quality of staff, student-teacher interaction, and curriculum,” said Serure. “It is a model program.”

The Hebrew After-School, as its known, is more than just a once a week Talmud Torah. Its an all encompassing daily after-school program geared towards Jewish children in public schools who have no formal Jewish education. In addition to Jewish History, Holidays, Traditions & Parsha; they offer Jewish Art, Ceramics, Drama and Taekwondo. Chabad is now running the program for the third year out of the Aventura Waterways K-8 Center in Highland Lakes, Monday-Friday from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Pre- and after-Hebrew school programs including homework help, tutoring and music are available from 1:30 to 3:00 & 4:30-6:00 p.m. for a nominal fee.

“This program offers a first taste of Jewish learning in a creative, joyful, hands-on and interesting way. We want to impart a sense of tradition using modern and innovative teaching techniques,” says school director Layah Kievman. “This is a Hebrew School where kids can’t wait to come!”

“My children Ziv and Keren are with the Hebrew school for the second year & they love it” said Mazal Yehezkely. “The have really nice teachers and a great group of staff. I can’t thank them enough”.

Chabad attracts children ages 5-13 from 7 schools and is extremely popular in the area. They have a waiting list for the younger classes and are working hard to get their own location so they can expand accordingly.

“This wonderful program has brought tremendous joy to my son” said Joanne Bendavid. “He has never been excited about school until the chabad program started. I originally signed him up for 2 days a week, but after just 2 weeks of attending the program he told me he wanted to go everday and that he loved it so much” said the mother of 7 year old Adam. “I am so thrilled that this program is available and teaches the real values of judaism in a fun and loving environment. I hope to be a part of it for many years to come.”

“A Hebrew School is no substitute for a day-school, but for the thousands of Jewish children attending publics schools, it’s their best option”. “Its only a matter of funding, and we’ll likely have as many as 1,000 kids enrolled within the next few years” projects Kievman. Chabad seeks sponsors to subsidize the cost of this amazing program.

“We seek to ensure that every single child has access to a Jewish education,” states Rabbi Kievman who together with his wife runs Chabad of Highland Lakes. “we want them to know who they are, where they come from… and we want them to take pride in it and love it”!

To learn more about the program or to register, please visit HebrewSchool.info or contact school director Layah Kievman at (305) 770-1919 or info@HebrewSchool.info.